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Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

I mean it on both Ian and Green. Green is in a shooting slump but the shake into dribble to come very free for a mid-range jumper is a quality shot. He's just missing it right now. And once he gets that going again he'll be free to come to the rim for some more dunks.

Young also is now aware of his shooting and at one point he clearly passed up a shot and moved the ball away, while another time he gave up the 3 and made the smart choice to come inside for a 2.

To me all 3 guys have shown high qualities but seem to be impacted due to role awareness, confidence and comfort. But they all look better now than the did. It's just taking longer than we thought it would after the solid pre-season looks.

The only thing I'm worried about is Roy's offense because that's the one thing that just hasn't had a single moment of looking really back on track. I would be worried about DJ, but I'm punting on him now. I'm shocked at his level of play, it just doesn't make sense but the low quality is undeniable.

Just tell him to take some PED's so his shooting percentage goes up . ..... or maybe just tell him to stop taking stupid shots.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Our Defense is stellar....our Starting 4 scoring is great.....the only thing that sucks right now is the 2nd unit scoring. I think that it's just a matter of time before the 2nd unit scoring and team chemistry figures it out. Once they do...that's when we will start playing more consistently.

Right now....the weakest aspect of this Team is the 2nd unit...but I don't believe that the 2nd unit scoring woes will last for an entire season. Get Granger back by February.....push Lance to the 2nd unit and I think that we will see the Team we had last year....the difference being a much improved defense.

If we could just sign a scorer(as we had some Barbosa scoring last year) to add to the 2nd unit it might go a long way.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Just got back from my first Lakers/ Pacers game here at Staples center. Had myself and two other Hoosiers sitting in a fully stocked suite. I can't explain how great this game was, start to finish. Surrounded by Lakers fans, listening to their jeers as they crept back into the game. Their downturned faces as Hill drained their will to live. And then they all did what Laker fans do best... leave the arena.

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Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Despite how mediocre his individual game appeared today, aside from a couple bad shots George moved the ball well when he needed to. And despite getting special attention from Artest and Kobe both for his suspect ballhandling, he only had 2 TOs.

And let's not forget on the other end he was guarding Kobe. Which he did a FANTASTIC job of, btw. He dug into Kobe, pushing him away from the basket before the catch. He contested shots without fouling. 4 fouls against Kobe in 32 minutes played? Yes please. He consistently bothered him with his length.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Just got back from my first Lakers/ Pacers game here at Staples center. Had myself and two other Hoosiers sitting in a fully stocked suite. I can't explain how great this game was, start to finish. Surrounded by Lakers fans, listening to their jeers as they crept back into the game. Their downturned faces as Hill drained their will to live. And then they all did what Laker fans do best... leave the arena.

Great win tonight. Thank you Pacers.

Trust me on this... They are also REALLY good at ENTERING the Arena... 45 minutes late.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Our Defense is stellar....our Starting 4 scoring is great.....the only thing that sucks right now is the 2nd unit scoring. I think that it's just a matter of time before the 2nd unit scoring and team chemistry figures it out. Once they do...that's when we will start playing more consistently.

Right now....the weakest aspect of this Team is the 2nd unit...but I don't believe that the 2nd unit scoring woes will last for an entire season. Get Granger back by February.....push Lance to the 2nd unit and I think that we will see the Team we had last year....the difference being a much improved defense and a 2nd unit that isn't totally incompetent.

The bench shooting was exceptionally poor today. Green was missing shots he has mostly made since about the third or fourth game this season, and while DJ missing so much wasn't a surprise take 5 shots in 12 minutes is.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

If we could just sign a scorer(as we had some Barbosa scoring last year) to add to the 2nd unit it might go a long way.

I'll piggyback Seth's comments....I think that Green is going to be that guy. I know that he sucks right now....but he's a streaky scorer that simply lacks the confidence in his shot. I remember seeing a play in the game where he had a wide open shot but hesitated for a split second....then took the shot and missed. I think that he'll get it back...its just a matter of time.

Add in that Lance will likely be pushed back to the 2nd unit HOPEFULLY as the 6th Man or 1st Guard off the bench once Granger returns ( yes, in 2-3 months ) and I think that the scoring is going to emerge in the 2nd unit. I hate that everyone's shooting confidence in the 2nd unit is low right now...but I really think that they will figure it out.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Despite how mediocre his individual game appeared today, aside from a couple bad shots George moved the ball well when he needed to. And despite getting special attention from Artest and Kobe both for his suspect ballhandling, he only had 2 TOs.

And let's not forget on the other end he was guarding Kobe. Which he did a FANTASTIC job of, btw. He dug into Kobe, pushing him away from the basket before the catch. He contested shots without fouling. 4 fouls against Kobe in 32 minutes played? Yes please. He consistently bothered him with his length.

No one is going to acknowledge this....but despite the stupid mistakes and the willingness to take a shot on the offensive end.....Young should get some credit for defending Kobe. Offensively.....yep....I'd rather have Young wait on the other side of the court when the rest of the 4 are on the offensive end.....but defensively...he really bothered Kobe.

Love him or hate him....but I am perfectly fine with Young being the guy drawing the assignment of defending the top wing scorer on the other team when he's on the floor.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

No one is going to acknowledge this....but despite the stupid mistakes and the willingness to take a shot on the offensive end.....Young should get some credit for defending Kobe. Offensively.....yep....I'd rather have Young wait on the other side of the court when the rest of the 4 are on the offensive end.....but defensively...he really bothered Kobe.

Love him or hate him....but I am perfectly fine with Young being the guy drawing the assignment of defending the top wing scorer on the other team when he's on the floor.

I think Young played great defense on Kobe, and definitely pulled off a few stops. But I don't think Young really bothered Kobe. I never saw him streak down the court and physically hound Young to "get even" by guarding the dribble instead of the player.

Honestly, I've always felt Kobe is the perfect superstar for Paul George to guard. He prefers to set up on the weak side and go to work because he's normally quicker, longer, and smarter than the players guarding him. But PG is nearly as quick, has better length, and he has the 1-on-1 defensive instincts to rival Kobe's offensive genius.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Not only he has that silly mini dance(supposedly signalling the foul call) but he looks straight back in case someone says something and get ready for a T.

As for the game you realize that nothing changed,right?We can only take the glamorous win and maybe Ian.I want to see some stability from him first.Other than that, nothing new.Continued to shoot poorly and once again many missed free throws.West is a beast(we already knew that) and Hill's last basket was such a clever shot and what a beauty.

Re: Pacers/Lakers postgame

Despite how mediocre his individual game appeared today, aside from a couple bad shots George moved the ball well when he needed to. And despite getting special attention from Artest and Kobe both for his suspect ballhandling, he only had 2 TOs.

And let's not forget on the other end he was guarding Kobe. Which he did a FANTASTIC job of, btw. He dug into Kobe, pushing him away from the basket before the catch. He contested shots without fouling. 4 fouls against Kobe in 32 minutes played? Yes please. He consistently bothered him with his length.

And his obligatory 9 rebounds.

There's a reason his +/- stat was +16 in a 2 point game.

I was very happy with his rebounding/limited TO's. That was huge.

His defense was very good, except for about a 45 second stretch when LA tied it up. Got lost twice, came over late once, and generally was ineffective. Hard to play defense at a high level, against a guy like Kobe, for 30+ minutes. So, I'd agree overall he was quite good on that end.

No one is going to acknowledge this....but despite the stupid mistakes and the willingness to take a shot on the offensive end.....Young should get some credit for defending Kobe. Offensively.....yep....I'd rather have Young wait on the other side of the court when the rest of the 4 are on the offensive end.....but defensively...he really bothered Kobe.

Sam shut him down at one point, Kobe was dribbling like throwback Travis Best. I don't get the hate for Sam, he's a hustler that is never out of the play, shooting 41% on 4 attempts per game. It isn't like he's taking 8 shots every time he comes in *cough* Gerald Green *cough* shooting 37% on 8 attempts per game.

Honestly, I've always felt Kobe is the perfect superstar for Paul George to guard. He prefers to set up on the weak side and go to work because he's normally quicker, longer, and smarter than the players guarding him. But PG is nearly as quick, has better length, and he has the 1-on-1 defensive instincts to rival Kobe's offensive genius.

I'd argue Paul is quicker, longer, and almost as strong. Kobe is just...Kobe. Creative, good at working officials, sweet jumpshot. However, if Paul was more aggressive offensively, I think Kobe would have had a much worse night. Paul is a great "anti-Kobe" when it comes to defense, really bothering everything Kobe wants to do.

?? The other Lakers outside of Kobe shot a combined: 12-48 for the game. 25%.

Kobe ALMOST won the game all by himself.

I'm glad the Pacer's won, but the Lakers definitely didn't lose because of Kobe Bryant's effort. Especially considering the fact he had the flu.

Exactly. Sorry, but Pau/Howard/Jamison/Meeks/Morris/Duhon/Artest all looked awful, and outside of Pau/Dwight, they are awful. Pacers win this going away if Kobe isn't playing.

Dwight seems disinterested most of the time, Pau has Roy 'esque mental issues/a coach that doesn't value him. Outside of Kobe, this team is exactly what people were afraid of: a hodge-podge of stars that absolutely don't fit together. Throw in an offensive system that requires non-stop running, and this team isn't setup for success.